Posts from Renters Solutions

How do you add color to a rental without painting? That was the challenge this client posed to Lisa of Olive Juice Designs. She responded by creating an inviting living room, perfect for entertaining, without pulling out a single paintbrush.

Few things are as versatile as the humble tension rod. They are cheap and totally removable. They are great for those awkward areas where nothing else fits, and don’t do any damage to walls, closets or cabinets. Some of their uses are obvious, but there are others you might not have ever considered...

Maybe you're renting, but you dream of a beautiful, stylish kitchen, and you spend your days looking longingly at kitchen remodels on design blogs, wishing you could change anything, anything at all, about your kind of terrible rental kitchen. The good news? There are lots of things you can do to make your kitchen better without so much as picking up a hammer. Here are ten ideas.

It's taken years for me to come around to the idea that a home isn't any less of a home because it's rented. Five years, actually — that's how long I've lived in my white-walled, cookie-cutter apartment. But now that I'm finally comfortable hanging shelves and buying furniture to fit my space, my husband and I have our sights set on buying our first house next summer. That's why all of our recent apartment projects have focused on "forever upgrades"— we're investing only in the things we can replace in our rental today and still take with us to a new home.

Decorating a rental can be tough, but we're often so focused on wrestling with the rooms we can't do much about — such as the kitchen and bathroom — that we ignore those we can. The bedroom, for example, is rife with possibilities for quick and easy upgrades. Read on for five ways to make your rental bedroom shine.

“This is the one!” I’ve exclaimed firmly to a number of rental agents in my life, after only walking inside a couple of steps. They say there’s no such thing as love at first sight, but when it comes to apartments, I’m a believer. Every single one of my apartment searches have started with me walking through a series of spaces that were okay, nice — even perfectly potential. And they’ve all ended with me calling off the search as soon as I walked through the door of the “one.” I’ve just known instantly for each of the last seven homes I’ve lived in. This is both a good and bad thing.

Q: Hi, I have lived in my mid-century apartment in LA for over ten years now. I have a very basic 1-page lease that doesn't go into great detail about long-term maintenance of the apartment. When I hit the five year mark, my apartment managers had the carpets cleaned at no additional cost to me- and from what I have heard from the older generation such as parents, aunts, and uncles, this is standard maintenance a landlord should do for long-term tenants...

If you're renting, it may seem like your options for personalizing your children's spaces are drastically limited. But there are lots of ways to add color, special touches, and whimsy without putting holes in the wall, painting, or changing the floors. In fact, the limitations may actually just spark your decor creativity!

Want to get out of your lease early? You need to play it smart. Whatever the reason you need to leave, we can help you navigate the tricky business of breaking your lease before things get ugly and expensive. Try these five things.